Scholarly Article
PREVALENCE OF STRESS AND ITS CORRELATION WITH COGNITION AMONG MEDICAL STUDENTS
Subhashri Soundirarajan, Tamilselvan Kuppusamy, Mathan kaliaperumal, Perumal Manoharan, Jothi Marie Feula
2026-02-21 · International Journal of Clinical and Biomedical Research · Sumathi Publications
Abstract
Stress is highly prevalent among medical students due to academic demands, clinical responsibilities, and psychosocial factors. Persistent stress has been linked to impaired cognitive performance and long-term neuropsychological consequences. However, objective assessment of cognition in relation to stress among medical undergraduates remains limited. Stress was assessed using MSSQ-40 which evaluates six stressor domains, and categorized as mild, moderate, high, and severe. For correlation analysis, 125 students were recruited and subjected to cognitive assessment using auditory P300 event-related potentials recorded at the Cz electrode placement. The overall prevalence of stress (high + severe categories) was 53.37%. Academic-related stressors (72.8%) and teaching-learning related stressors (69.0%) were the most predominant domains. Statically significant differences in mean stress scores across phases were observed for academic related, teaching learning, Social related and group activities related stressor (p <0.05). P300 latency showed a significant positive correlation with academic related (r=0.28, p=0.04), teaching learning (r=0.31, p=0.02), Drive related (r=0.527, p<0.001), and group activities related stressor (r=0.39, p<0.001). More than half of the medical students experienced significant stress, predominantly academic related factors. Higher stress levels were associated with prolonged P300 latency, suggesting stress-related cognitive slowing. Early identification and targeted interventions may help improve both mental well-being and cognitive performance among medical undergraduates.
Keywords
Stress, MSSQ-40, Medical students, P300, Cognition, Event-related potentials
Citation Details
International Journal of Clinical and Biomedical Research, Vol. 11, No. 1, pp. 23-27